Membership Rewards 30% Transfer Bonus To British Airways/Avios

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It looks like Membership Rewards is finally starting to bring back some transfer bonuses. This transfer bonus is a 30% bonus to British Airways new Avios system, good through January 31, 2012. I know that Avios is a four letter word to some travelers who very much miss the old BA mileage chart, but as I pointed out in this post, the new Avios system does have some really good redemption values for shorter flights that contain a hub city as either the origin or destination. For my personal travel needs right now, Avios is actually pretty useful so I may concentrate a little bit more on Amex in the short run in order to take advantage of the 30% transfer bonus. The shortest round-trip flights using Avios are 9,000 Avios points, so with this 30% bonus all you need is to do is transfer 7,000 Membership Rewards points to get the resulting 9,100 Avios points (transfers must be done in 1300 Avios increments.

Transfer bonuses are the key advantage that American Express Membership Rewards has over Chase’s Ultimate Reward system (of which British Airways is also a transfer partner), so I am happy to see them bringing back a little transfer bonus action.

If you are looking to get a card that earns Membership Rewards, there are a few listed in my Top Family Credit Card Deals section. I will probably be pulling out my Platinum Amex today when doing some Black Friday shopping to boost my Avios balance up some in the near future!

Thanks so much to James for emailing me to let me know of this transfer bonus!

[…] Today when I went to my parents’ house they had a letter they had just received from American Express. I have taught them to stop throwing away credit card related items! The letter states that my mom can refer people for the American Express Premier Rewards Gold card and the referred person will receive 25,000 Membership Rewards points for spending $2000 on the card within the first three months. The annual fee is waived the first year and then is $175 for subsequent years. This is a great card for families because it offers 3x points for airfare, 2x points for gas and groceries, and 1x on everything else. While American Express Membership Rewards has lost some of its luster recently due to the loss of some transfer partners, it does still offer periodic great transfer bonuses, such as the current 30% bonus to British Airways. […]

@Ali, thus far Ultimate Rewards has not had any transfer bonuses. Membership Rewards does them with varying frequency. There has been a bit of a pretty dry spell recently, but there were tons of bonuses going on over the summer (right before Continental left).

Thanks so much for highlighting the short haul rewards on BA. Having been a long haul first class guy, i learned something new and put it to use. I have used them twice this week for some future travel and they are a great bargain.

And there are still good deals on the long haul BA flights to the UK, especially with the Chase BA companion award or with transfer bonuses like this.

About Summer

Well, I am a married mom in my mid-30's. I have two rock star, adorable, beautiful, fantastic, mischievous, humorous, smarter-than-my-own-good girls. One is currently 7 going on 17 and the other is closing in on her 2nd birthday. I am obsessed with my adorable and insane kiddos, and also obsessed with earning and using airline and hotel points and miles to show them the world on a budget we can afford. Learn more about Summer

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